MARK XI-POWER OF FAITH 1583 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.1 27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, 28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? 29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. 31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? 32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And 33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Chapter 12 1 In a parable of the vineyard let out to unthankful husbandmen, Christ fortelleth the reprobation of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles. 13 He avoideth the snare of the Pharisees and Herodians about paying tribute to Cæsar: 18 convinceth the error of the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection: 28 resolveth the scribe, who questioned of the first commandment: 35 refuteth the opinion that the scribes held of Christ: 38 bidding the people to beware of their ambition and hypocrisy: 41 and commendeth the poor widow for her two miles, above all. ND he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. 5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. 6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. "This verse is omitted in the Revised Version. 1584 MARK XII-TRIBUTE TO CÆSAR 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. 10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:1 11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way. 13¶ And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. 14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not? 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. 16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Cæsar's. 17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him. 18¶Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, 19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. 22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. 24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. 26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Psalms 118, 22 and 23. “Fishers of Men" BY ERNEST ZIMMERMANN, A MODERN GERMAN ARTIST. + "And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men."-Mark, 1, 17. OT merely to impress His former friends, had N° Jesus performed the miracle of the fish-nets. He had resolved that four of these fishermen were to be among the chief of His disciples, leaders of the twelve apostles who were to govern His Church after the Redemption was accomplished. Hence He meant now that they should abandon all other work, to follow Him and learn from Him. Hence the miracle. So impressed was Peter, ever the foremost and most impulsive of the group, that "he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” But Jesus raised him up and said “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men." Then from among the crowding fisherfolk He selected four, Peter and his brother Andrew, and two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. John, at least, had probably listened to Him before; he was the writer of the Gospel, a mere youth at this time, but so devoted to the Master that he grew to be the best beloved of all the disciples, the "apostle of love," as Peter was the "apostle of power." To these four Jesus explained His doctrines and something of the future before them; they were to gather multitudes into the faith, to become "fishers of men." |